99 skinny (rewritten) // adopted by 5sos

twenty five // 116 lbs

you cannot save people, you can only love them.

***

"A therapist? Ashton I already told you I –"

"Just listen to me," Ashton demanded, holding his hands out as a signal for me to stay quiet. Except, I ignored it and opened my mouth to continue my argument, but he quickly talked over me.

"It wouldn't hurt to just talk to someone," it seemed like he was just repeating his words, having heard Ashton say things like this a million times by now. "It could make you feel better –"

"I don't need to feel better, Ashton. I'm fine," I sighed irritatedly, wishing he'd just drop it and let me be.

"No, Daisy. I'm the adult here and if I want you to do something then you'll do it," he raised his voice ever so slightly, words laced with authority and his eyes clouding with something like anger. "No more arguments. You're going."

I sighed, looking down at my thighs in defeat. Noticing the way my fat spread out as my legs hung over the edge of the bed, I quickly brought my legs up onto the bed and crossed them. Feeling embarrassed that Ashton had been staring down at my fat body this whole time, I glanced up to see if he noticed. Instead of the judgmental glare I expected to see, Ashton was staring down at me with impatience, waiting for me to answer.

"Okay," I finally said. "When?"

"Wednesday," Ashton said. "I'm going to go unpack now."

I nodded, watching him turn and walk out the room, shutting the door behind him. It was Sunday now over here in Australia, meaning I had a few days until then.

Talking to a therapist really frightened me, since I wasn't really one to talk about my feelings and I didn't want to get better. Not like I truly had a reason to get better since my situation wasn't that bad. Besides, I was too fat for anyone to ever believe I starved myself.

This only reminded me of how much of a failure I really was, which only motivated me to work harder.

Suddenly snapping out of my thoughts, I remembered that I had been in the middle of texting Max. Snatching my phone up, I unlocked it and sent my text to him, then waited for a response.

The time here was six pm, meaning that back home it was twelve pm. I suddenly felt bad for even texting him, worried I'd wake him up. He didn't respond though, meaning I didn't wake him and he was still asleep. Since Max was unresponsive, I decided to start unpacking and setting up my new room.

***

"How do you feel about starting school next Monday?" Ashton asked later that night at the dinner table.

"That's fine," I shrugged, pushing my unwanted chicken around on my plate. I hoped pushing my food around would trick the boys into thinking I had eaten.

"Okay, I'll enroll you in school once I get a chance," Ashton said before shoveling chicken to his mouth. "I know we came here to chill out, but the boys and I will be gone a lot for the next few weeks to get some things together with the band. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. What do you guys have to do?" I curiously asked, trying to distract the boys from my plate.

"Record some songs, plan out a future tour, possibly do interviews," Ashton explained. "So you'll have to ride a bus home and stay here by yourself for a few hours until we get back. Is that okay?"

A lightbulb went off in my head, realizing this new schedule held so many opportunities within it. "That's fine."

With the boys gone for a few hours, that gave me enough time to use the gym downstairs without them knowing and hours to fast. For now, I figured it would be better for them not to know right now, with everything happening. Calum would flip out, too.

I suddenly couldn't wait for next week.

"So we can get a dog now?" Calum asked, big brown eyes bright with excitement.

"What does that have to do with getting a dog?" Michael asked, rolling his eyes.

"A dog would keep her company," Calum said matter-of-factly.

"If that's the case, can we get a cat?" Michael asked, now his eyes bright with a sudden burst of life.

"Can we get both?" Michael and Calum chorused, bouncing in their seats like children.

Luke couldn't help but start to laugh, throwing his head back at their childish ways. Ashton shook his head, letting out a few chuckles himself.

"Maybe..." Ashton trailed off.

"But only one," he quickly added, causing Calum and Michael to groan.

I myself couldn't help but laugh, feeling my stomach bubble with happiness. Just being with them made me happy, regardless of the  struggles we had yet to endure.

***

After dinner the boys all went to their separate rooms, and I returned to mine. Upon walking past Luke's room, I overheard his voice through his closed door.

"I miss you already, Adria."

Adria? I couldn't help but to stop in my tracks, moving slightly closer to his door as I curiously listened.

"When will you be back?" a female's whined, her echoey voice making it obvious that this conversation was occurring over the phone.

"I'm not sure babe," Luke said back, voice slow and dragged out as he talked. "Maybe you could fly out and come see me."

"That would be cool. I've always wanted to go to Australia," she said dreamily, letting out a sigh.

"I'll see what I can do," Luke told her. "Now go to sleep, babe. It's late."

Babe. He had called her babe twice. Could this be a girlfriend? Who even is this girl? Why hadn't he ever mentioned her before?

Deciding I had eavesdropped enough, I departed from Luke's door and walked back to my own room. Once inside, I flopped down onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling in thought.

A lot had changed.

***

guys this is bad. someone please motivate me to start outlining this dàmn book bc i still haven't and that's no bueno.

2, maybe 3 or 4, new characters will be added to this book i'm soo excited !! one character is quite unique and i haven't seen this specific type of character in other books and she wasn't in the original so i'm beyond excited to include her !! i can't wait for her to come into the story.

y'all will hate me if i add her bahahah

i think the guy i mentioned last chapter  has a girlfriend so i'm really sad about that, but i'll still try to at least become friends with him :(

fact #5: i've been writing stories for six years

fact #7: i'm an only child

qotd: what country do you live in?

aotd: the country that elected a dumbàss orange as president :)

stay positive. ily <3